Inside Politics: The best and worst of 2024

If things are supposed to be slowing down for Christmas, well, nobody told our federal politicians. This week we had a mid-year economic update and a contentious debate about the Coalition’s nuclear energy plans.   Today, chief political correspondent David Crowe joins Jacqueline Maley to look bac…

The flesh-eating ulcer spreading across the east coast

We found out, earlier this week, that Buruli ulcer, caused by a flesh-eating bacteria has settled into a coastal town in NSW. Experts say there’s a significant risk that the bacteria could spread to Sydney, and beyond.  Today, health editor Kate Aubusson on how we can stay safe from this disease, …

A cheat’s guide to Dutton’s nuclear power plans

You’ve seen all the headlines. And squinted at the figures. But for god’s sake, what do they actually mean? We are, of course, talking about Peter Dutton’s nuclear energy plan. Is it really as radical as some analysts say, relying on “fairly heroic assumptions” about what it will cost? And what wil…

Why are Australians being poisoned overseas?

On the weekend, four Australians were rushed to hospital in Fiji with suspected alcohol poisoning, after drinking cocktails at a resort.  This follows the mass drink poisoning in Laos last month, which claimed the lives of six tourists, including Australian teenagers Bianca Jones and Holly Bowles.…

The extraordinary tale of alleged serial swindler ‘Hurricane Tim’

It reads like a script from a movie. A small-town boy from coastal new south wales who grew up to rub shoulders with the rich and the powerful and, if all the stories are true, cheating them out of a whole lot of money. Timothy John Alford is accused of being a serial swindler, cheating dozens of …

Inside politics: Was Albanese’s response to the synagogue attack really that bad?

This week was dominated by the appalling anti-Semitic attack on the Adass Israel Synagogue in Ripponlea in Melbourne’s south-east. There followed more attacks in Sydney - A car was torched in the Eastern suburbs, where there is a strong Jewish community, and houses there were graffitied with anti-I…

Why is our PM buying PNG a rugby league team?

The Australian government is expected to announce, today, that it will drop $600 million to help create a rugby league team for Papua New Guinea. Has Prime Minister Anthony Albanese let his love of rugby league go to his head? Announcing this sort of spend during a cost of living crisis? Or is thi…

Rupert Murdoch’s power play and the Succession plot that hit close to home

Rupert Murdoch’s plan to alter the family trust and cement his eldest son Lachlan as the dominant force in the global media empire has failed after a ruling in Nevada. Murdoch’s representatives say they intend to appeal the decision, delivered after months of secretive court hearings and described …

A synagogue in my old suburb was attacked. I responded in the only way I know how

Shortly after 4am on Friday, the quiet hush of a synagogue in inner Melbourne was broken by what sounded like a sledgehammer, ripping through the place of worship. Glass flew, and one congregant, who was inside the building at the time studying religious texts, was injured. Police have now declar…

‘It’s all in your head’: Medical gender bias and Australian women

When journalists from The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald put a call out to hear from women who’d experienced medical misogyny, they were inundated with stories. More than 500 women responded, within only 48 hours. Many said they’d had their serious diagnoses missed, at the hands of doctors and…